Not the best photo, sorry, I'll try again tomorrow. But I just wanted to share with you a completed back (yey!).

Thanks to some laptop-hogging by Husband, I've nearly completed the ribbing on the front – just the last row to do but it involves some fiddly increases so I might leave that until tomorrow, when hopefully I'll be more awake. Or not: We seem to be watching the film that we were "only going to watch the start of" to its conclusion. But hark, is that my bed calling...?

I'd been dithering about whether or not to even go to look if Yarn Shop could fulfil "Harry’s" needs but one word from my Professional Knitting Friend telling me that my order that been delivered and we were there like a shot. Yes, "we" – a nice little family outing: Quiet time over, everyone in the car – hurry, hurry, hurry! Not even time for tea and cake: There's yarn to be had.

Summer project all sorted (and thank you very much for your help), I then browsed the available selection for "Harry". I don't know what it says about me when even Professional Knitting Friend thinks that I’m being "very optimistic" but I purchased, nonetheless. And cast on that evening. And this is where I've got to:

You may not hear much from me for the next six weeks and five days but I hope to be able to update my "Harry" status with photos from time to time. All encouraging comments welcome, as are offers to babysit, clean, iron and cook. But please keep all raised eyebrows under a hat.

Two small tank tops, that is. One very small (age 3 – 6 months) and one small (2 or 3 years).

Youngest Son is being baptised on Easter Sunday and it'll be of no surprise that I want to knit something for him and his big brother. It'll also be of no surprise that I'm willing to abandon, yet again, Husband's Jumper in the pursuit of this desire (row 20 on sleeve two, by the way – and yes, I'm counting). But what may surprise you is that I'm also willing to postpone projects of my own for my boys. This may have something to do with the fact that I haven't yet got my greedy little hands on the new batch of yarn but, since I've also been tempted to cast on an alternative (sorry, that should be "different") project from my stash, I not sure that it's quite that simple. But fear not: I'm sure it'll pass.

My current idea is "Harry" – appropriate not only because it's a lovely design but also because it holds the same name as Youngest Son's soon-to-be Godfather. This is clearly a sign. I already have the complementary colour schemes worked out for both tops – thanks to being the grateful recipient of this season's shade card. So this ability to forward-plan is also a sign. The third, and final, sign will be that all the required yarn will be in stock when I go shopping. Yes, a trinity of signs, the astute among you will have noticed, and there'll be no arguing with that.

Husband thinks that, although a nice idea, it'll be a lot of work. Not one mention of his jumper being de-prioritised, you'll notice, as he really is one of the kindest and most generous people I know. He may have a point, although I'm trying not to acknowledge it. Seven weeks might normally be enough time say, when one is getting their full quota of sleep at night. Or they have long evenings and perhaps even a little bit of daytime to do some knitting. Having a six-week old who refuses to conform to his older brother's early (and most wonderful) sleeping pattern means that, as yet, I meet none of these criteria. And one hour's of knitting a day (if I'm lucky) will not be enough to knit two tank tops.

Now I know that I could enrol the help of my more-than-capable family members to contribute to this project but I want this to be a gift from me. Or is that it's actually a gift for me? Oldest Son's face has yet to light up with the same shine as a Proper Knitter when presented with a knitted gift (although, to be fair, he did wear his hat for another five seconds today – and yes, I'm counting). To be honest, it's probably something to do with proving that I'm a Proper Mother by knitting occasion-specific garments for my boys, although the only person that it needs proving to is myself – and I'm sure that everyone else would rather I turned up not so bleary-eyed and not so grumpy having enjoyed what rest I could. Hmm. They too may have a point.

So let's let beloved yarn shop decide. Although if you see a tired father-of-two small boys rushing around the haberdashery department trying to hide all the desired yarn, please stop him: That's cheating and only a sign that I should stop sharing project ideas with him.

Sleeve one is complete! Tis amazing the motivation that the promise of casting on a whole new project pour moi can provide. Just a shame that John Lewis is currently shut – and most probably my yarn dealer is in bed (as all sensible people probably should be). Well, I shall let youngest son decide whether or not I cast on sleeve two – or feed him.

It's been difficult but I've finally decided which of this season’s garments I’m going to knit: A summer jumper. "Summer" because it's a lace design using a cotton / wool mix and a jumper because I live in Scotland. And I feel the cold. With the decision made, all that remains is the minor detail of getting the yarn. Usually this involves being plucked from the appropriate yarn trees in the far off Kingdom of Fibres and delivered to my door by brave and fearless knights. It's a straight-forward process and one that usually incurs a delay of no more than a week or two between my request being made and the yarn being delivered. Plenty of time, then, to continue working on another project, hoping to make enough progress to "allow" me to cast on the new yarn as soon as it arrives. But not this time.

Oh no. This time, apparently, we can do away with the dedicated harvesting and visitations from the knights of the yarn realm. No, this time, I can collect it myself right now. I suspect that a lot of knitters would be packing their children into whatever form of transport is to hand and rushing off to their nearest yarn dealership to collect their spoils and casting-on as soon as possible (maybe even bribing their children with tea and cake in the dealership cafe just to allow that first row to be knitted then and there), but we're all still at home. What self-control.

And it's about this that I'm writing to you, imploring you to help me keep some element of perspective in my knitting life, my priorities, my promises yet to be honoured. And yes, by this I am referring to Husband's jumper, a "Moon" that has yet to rise. Just between you and me, I would dearly love to have this completed by May (for our woolly wedding anniversary) but I know that it's not very likely given the extremely limited time I am able to dedicate to knitting at the moment (please note, I am not complaining). It is most unfortunate that out annual get-together with all of our knitting friends also occurs in May – and last year on my wedding anniversary (and yes, I still went). So, ideally, I would love that both jumpers are completed by the end of May. But practically, I know that this is not going to happen and one jumper will take precedence over the other. I give you no prizes for guessing which way it'll go. I am a bad, bad wife. But, to try to alleviate some of my guilt – and, in doing so, ensure that Husband's jumper continues to make progress - I beseech you: Please, please do not hand over even a single ball of my promised yarn allocation until you have seen at least one completed sleeve of Husband's jumper. You know my methods, that sleeves come after the front and back – and you've also seen the photographic evidence that both those have been completed. So near and yet so many other projects...

I am delighted to be able to introduce my first guest blogger! Many thanks to Knitting Friend for sharing the highs and lows of her "yarn diet. Love the "Rules" – although I wonder how you'd incorporate "Knitting for Work”? Please tell me that it’s exempt....!

P.S. Apologies for the delay in posting this entry – can’t believe that it’s February already.

It's nearly the end of January, and I think I've managed to get out fairly unscathed from this year's sales – only one pack of 10 balls of Rowan Silk Twist and six balls of Rowan British Sheep DK. This is a much better (i.e. smaller) result than last year's yarn haul, most of which is, of course, still unknitted and lurking in various places. And I'm not really counting the 6 British Sheep balls as they're for a jumper for Child No 2 and knitting for my children is a duty (see how easy it is to turn a self-indulgent knitting habit into something on a par with cleaning the bathroom?). Oh yes, am feeling a little smug this year.

Like many knitters, I was on a yarn diet for most of the time, a diet that I too often failed to stick to and that has collapsed spectacularly and expensively at previous January sales. My stash had reached the stage where new yarn could not be justified, and if I did ever buy anything I'd come home and hide the purchase. This hiding of yarn said more about me and my guilt than anything about the people I was hiding the yarn from – they didn't and do not care. They really don’t care at all. Though one of them is very small and so frequently has sticky fingers.

Yarn-dieting has worked to some extent, but it has not stopped my stash from getting bigger, just slowed its growth. Maybe. It has definitely stopped me from enjoying yarn shopping as much as I might. There has to be a better, easier, happier way. So I've decided to give up yarn-dieting and take up yarn-healthy-eating instead. My yarn-healthy-eating rules are:

You must complete two projects before you’re allowed to buy more yarn. If you knit more yarn than you buy, your stash will get smaller.

The completed projects have to twice as big as the yarn you're allowed to buy (no knitting two egg-cosies and going out and buying enough to make a tunic, damnit). You could do this by estimating the number of stitches in two completed projects, and then selecting a new project with half that number if you wanted to "calorie count".

Knitting for new babies and fast-growing children is exempt, as by definition this knitting is finished quickly and doesn’t lead to yarn "constipation".

If severely tempted, just buy a knitting book instead – it will be less expensive than yarn for a sweater, give you a knitting high, and help you to find inspiration to exploit your existing stash.

The odd relapse is OK. Sometimes a particular yarn can be your destiny. This is often true of discontinued yarn.

The beauty of this healthy-eating plan is that I’ll be extra-motivated to finish things, and once I've done two projects, I will be obliged to buy more yarn. Heavenly.

Now I may not be the fastest knitter in the world but I cannot imagine how, after "less than an hour" of knitting, a 25cm square of double moss stitch can be accomplished. I will attempt to keep track of the length of time this wash cloth takes to knit although I confess that I am somewhat disappointed that it;s not an evening's work – and that's taking into account interruptions from Youngest Son to be fed and Oldest Son to be comforted from being unwell. It's now 0135 and I am the last to bed but to bed I must go. Goodnight xx

I'm about to start a knitting project, the designer of which claims that it can be done in less than an hour. I'm making a small change to the design but let's see how long it does take... Talk to you again soon (hopefully!)